The council has relaunched the successful UKSPF Regeneration Project Development Fund for 24/25, to continue support for the early stages of project development for community groups and organisations.
The fund, which supported nine community groups in 23/24, has been developed and is funded through the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).
The fund will again provide financial support to allow community groups and organisations to appoint specialist consultants or undertake development services for the initial stages of potential future capital projects, such as preparation of survey information, project feasibility assessments, business case development etc.
The principal aim of the fund is to remove some of the barriers faced by community groups and organisations when developing 'good ideas' into viable projects which meet the necessary funding criteria and can progress to applying for, and securing, project delivery capital grant funding.
The supported projects must be able to demonstrate how the development funding will assist with the delivery of the wider capital project aims, including the vision for the long-term benefits for the local communities and wider East Lothian population, aligned with both the East Lothian Plan objectives and East Lothian Council Climate Strategy Outcomes.
A maximum grant of £3,000 will be available per community group or organisation towards project development costs. As the available funding is limited grant applications will be assessed and scored competitively against a set of published eligibility criteria.
The fund is anticipated to have a single funding round, with the deadline for submission of applications being 5pm on Friday, 26 July 2024.
Application forms are available online.
For further information and guidance notes please email regeneration@eastlothian.gov.uk
Background
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is provided by the Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities via their Levelling Up programme that is providing all areas of the UK with an allocation of funding to invest in domestic priorities.
The funding has been allocated to support project delivery across the three Core Intervention Priorities for UKSPF - namely Communities & Place; Supporting Local Business; and People & Skills.
The UKSPF Regeneration Project Development Fund is being delivered as part of the Communities & Place Investment Priority to support Community Wealth and Capacity building opportunities related to future community driven capital project developments across East Lothian.
The UKSPF Regeneration Project Development Fund has a total budget of £50,000 for 2024-25 to assist with future capital project development costs. It is anticipated that this funding will support a minimum of 15 individual projects.